Educational Programs

PRESERVING THE SPIRIT: AGUA CALIENTE LIVING TRADITIONS

Preserving the Spirit Classes

Preserving the Spirit classes for adults and children offer hands-on experiences with Native crafts such as basketry, pottery, musical instrument making, fry bread cooking, mineral pigment making, gourd art, and pine needle weaving.

Spirit Keepers Lectures

Topics of the Spirit Keepers lectures focus on Native American history and the culture of tribes in the Coachella Valley and other parts of the Western United States.

Kids Explore Classes

In the Kids Explore summer program, children ages 5 to 12 have opportunities to learn a variety of arts and crafts such as reed basket making, Navajo sand painting, California Indian games, Native American stencil painting, and Cahuilla pottery making.

Community Outreach Activities

Agua Caliente Cultural Museum offers a variety of educational community outreach activities for school groups and community organizations.

Museum Tours

Tours of the Museum include a guided interpretation of permanent and seasonal exhibitions, the story of the Cahuilla Indians and their adaptation to the mountain and desert environments, and the art of Cahuilla basketry and pottery making.  Tours are limited to 30 participants.

Canyon Hikes

The hike is an easy to moderate one-mile loop of beautiful Andreas Canyon, a traditional village site of the Cahuilla people.  Plants, animals, and the landscape are discussed to provide a context for understanding how the Cahuilla used natural resources in daily desert life.  Artifact replicas of common tools are also used to illustrate aspects of Cahuilla culture.  A picnic area is available for lunch after the hike.  Canyon hikes are free to Coachella Valley school groups.

School Classroom Presentations

Classrooms presentations include a 15-minute video that depicts traditions and customs of Cahuilla culture, and the use of artifact replicas and other material culture for hands-on demonstrations.  Focusing on Cahuilla adaptation to desert and mountain environments, these presentations explore the subjects of shelter and clothing, the use of tools, and food gathering and processing.  

Library and Archives Research Opportunities

The Library and Archives of the Museum house a growing collection of materials on Native cultures, with a special emphasis on Agua Caliente history and Cahuilla culture.  More than 1,000 book titles, a Cahuilla reference collection, and finding aids to archival collections are available to the public by appointment Monday through Friday.

Special Cultural Events

Agua Caliente Cultural Museum provides a venue to present the artistry of Native film makers, actors, writers, and performers.  Special cultural events produced by the Museum feature Native storytelling and high-energy traditional bird singing and dancing, and a weeklong film festival that showcases films by, about, and starring Native Americans and other indigenous people.

For information about the Agua Caliente Cultural Museum Education Department please call or email O'Jay Vanegas, Education Director, at (760) 778-1079, ext. 105 for more information.

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